The Price You Pay
by Squishy Eeyore
Summary: Balthier/Vaan AU drabble. Takes place in Old Archades. A sort of "could have, should have happened" fic.


Balthier smirked. He could tell Ashe was just itching to go all "I'm the Princess of Dalmasca, you fools!" on the two Imperials guarding the stairway to Archades. She did not dare for obvious reasons, but he could tell that it was killing her not to.

"Away with you, vulgar!" The Imperial on the left shouted, shoving Vaan on the shoulder.

The blond stumbled backwards down the stairs that he'd climbed and would have fallen had Fran not steadied him. Balthier's easy smirk vanished in an instant and he shot a dark look at the Imperial. Now it was he who had an itch. The itch to blow out an Imperial kneecap or two.

"Let's go." Penelo said nervously, feeling the tension crackling on the air.

Vaan nodded and he and Fran led the group off in the direction that they'd come. Balthier lingered behind to glare once more at the Imperial before following his companions.

"So…" Vaan rested his hands behind his head as he slowly walked down the alleyway. "What do we do now?"

"Well, well, well… there's a sight for sore eyes. Didn't think I'd be seeing you again. Not here." A voice behind them mused.

Vaan came to a stop and turned to see a scruffy-looking man walking up to them. He had a Cheshire grin on his face like he'd just found the world's greatest treasure.

"Oh wonderful. Enter the streetear." Balthier said with as much distaste as he could muster.

"A pirate would do well to smile. Wouldn't want to sour his reputation." The man replied, his cat's grin widening.

"You know this guy?" Vaan asked Balthier.

The brunet grimaced, "An old… friend. He's a streetear. A peddler of rumor and hearsay by the name of Jules. He'd bite a Gil given him by his own mother and shave it by half to pay for her funeral."

Jules chuckled lowly, "Sometimes an ear with tight purse string's the order of the day. Like when a pirate decides he fancies going up in the world."

"To the city? You know a way?" Vaan asked eagerly.

Balthier snorted contemptuously. Jules ignored him and turned his grin on Vaan.

"In Archades, knowledge is power. And power has a way of opening doors, boy. Now, a fool will buy a sack of feathers for his pillow, but a wise man… He'll buy the whole stinking cockatrice and get his fill of meat into the bargain. So, wise man, how does 1500 Gil sound?

Vaan blanched, "What?? That's ridiculous!"

All their gil combined, the group only had 2100 gil. Jules was asking for more than half of their coin.

The streetear laughed. "Did you not hear a word I said? Nothing is free in Archades. Or… did you expect free information for your pretty face?"

"P-pretty?" The blond stammered.

"Although…" Jules stroked his chin. "I might be convinced to lower my asking price if…"

The man trailed off, letting the silence spiral horribly.

Balthier sighed, "Name it, Jules."

"I'm glad _you _asked, Balthier." Jules chuckled. "I will be generous and lower my asking price to a scant 300 gil if… you kiss the boy."

Balthier's expression darkened while a dumbstruck silence settled over the rest of the group.

"What… what kind of condition is that?" Vaan asked, his cheeks a flaming bright red. "What kind of delinquent are…"

Vaan's entire face bloomed a brilliant red as Balthier suddenly grabbed him by the wrist and brought him around to place his lips on the younger man's. Penelo's eyebrows nearly shot up into her hairline and her own cheeks turned pink. Fran cocked an eyebrow, but merely looked smug instead of shocked. Both Ashe and Basch had the same expression, a kind of frozen disbelief.

The blond clutched at the front of Balthier's vest, completely flabbergasted. Balthier was kissing him! Him! And… and… he… _liked it_! Balthier was not surprised when Vaan's body tensed up like a bowstring when he first brought him around for the embrace. However he was quite surprised when the teen actually relaxed against him and tilted his head slightly to deepen their kiss.

Jules, who'd been slightly surprised himself (and maybe a little hypnotized), finally broke out of his reverie. "So that will be 300 gil…"

But Balthier and Vaan were not breaking apart. Instead Balthier was running his tongue along the seam of Vaan's lips and purring contentedly when the blond's lips parted.

"Uh…" Jules cleared his throat.

Fran was definitely amused now. "You did not specify how long the kiss would have to last."

Penelo was totally enraptured by the scene in front of her. She stood watching the pair, her face burning red and her mouth slightly open. Asch and Basch merely looked embarrassed. His tongue entangled with Vaan's, one of the pirate's hands snaked down to grope the blond's backside.

"That will do!" Jules cried almost frantically, grabbing onto Balthier's shoulder.

Rather reluctantly, Balthier let his desert thief go. Vaan was no longer blushing, but had a rather dopey grin on his face. He went to stand serenely beside Fran while Balthier paid the streetear. Jules quickly took the gil and pocketed it.

"I heard a Seeq was plannin' to sell the Moogles Eight. Just inform them of this fact and the ensuing fireworks will distract the guards long enough for you to sneak up to Archades." He said quickly, still looking frantic and jumpy.

Vaan nodded and walked by the pair, grinning at Balthier as he went. Balthier grinned back and watched the blond vanish around the corner. Behind them, Penelo giggled for no apparent reason then clapped her hands over her mouth. Fran just smirked. Asch and Basch continued to look disgustedly embarrassed over their companions' rather racy display of public affection.

As Jules promised the Moogles Eight were not happy about their impending fate and the resulting brawl drew both Imperials away from their post. Vaan and Balthier exchanged grins once more as the group again headed for the stairs to Archades, Balthier trailing along behind them. Jules, who'd finally gotten over his shock and was regaining his swagger, spoke to the sky pirate.

"Perhaps "the prodigal son Bunansa returns" would have fetched that 1200 gil discount, but "the prodigal son Bunansa returns and ravishes a blond street brat in the stinking alleyways of Old Archades" will be worth twice that. Possibly even thrice that as the blond street brat happens to be male…"

"Bah." Balthier grunted, hiding a smirk as he turned away from Jules and followed after his friends.

* * *

  
The End!! Poor Jules. He should have known better. It was Balthier after all XD


End file.
